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IINTTE STATES PATENT EETcE.

SIDNEY S. TURNER, OF LEWISTON, MAINE, ASSIGNOR TO SIDNEY S. TURNER AND ELMER TOWN SEND'.

MACHINE FOR SPLITTING MACKEREL.

lSpecification forming part of Letters Patent No. 15,941, dated October 21, 1855.

-r o all whom 'it may conce/rn.-

Be it known that 1, SIDNEY S. TURNER, of Lewiston, in the county of Androscoggin and State of Maine, have invented a new and useful Machine for Splitting Mackerel 5 and I do hereby declare that the same is fully described and represented in the following' specification and the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure l is a top view of the saidmachine; Fig. 2, a side elevation of it; Fig. 3, a front elevation, Fig. 4 a rear elevation, and Fig. 5 a vertical and longitudinal section, of it.

In such drawings, A exhibits the frame by which the main operative parts of the mechanism are supported. B isa circular cutter or knife mounted on a rotary shaft, C, provided with a pulley, D, and arranged at the upper part of the frame A. Underneaththe said cutting-knife is a carriage, E, so applied to the frame A as to be capable of being slid or moved rectilinearly forward and backward underneath the cutting-knife. From this carriage two standards or posts, F F, extend upward, a band, G, being fastened at one of its ends to one of them and wound around the pulley D and fastened at its other end to the other standard, as shown in the drawings, the same being constructed so that when the carriage E is moved forward in the direction of the arrow a, the cutter-wheel G shall not only be put in rotation or movement in the direc'- tion of the arrow b, but so that its cuttingedge Vor periphery or part that enters the fish shall have a velocity of movement faster than that of the said carriage. The object of this will be hereinafter explained.

Applied to the carriage and on opposite sides of the cutting-knife, or so that said cutting-knife shall run between them, are two jaws or holders, H I, each being made to turn laterally on a pin, c, arranged at or near its rear end, as shown in the drawings. To each jaw and the carriage E a spring, d, is applied in such a manner as to press the jaw inward toward the cutting-knife; and besides the said spring, each jaw has one of two levers,

K L, connected or jointed to it, the said levers I being arranged as shown in the drawings, wherein one is represented as extended rearward and the other forward from its jaw. The fulera of these levers are seen at e and f, and as projecting upward from the movable carriage.

The spring-jaws serve to eentralize the fish or bring or hold it in a proper position to be cut by theknife. In order to operate these levers at suitable times, two post-s or studs, M N, are extended upward from the cross-tie g that supports the carriage, the said posts being arranged as shown inFig. l.

In the operation of my machine, when its carriage is drawn entirely backward it is ready to receive a mackerel between the jaws or holders H I. During the act of retracting the carriage the front arm of the lever K will be drawn against the post N, so as to cause the lever to be moved on its fulcrum, and thereby move the jaw I away from the jaw H, thus opening the jaws for the reception of a fish. On introducing the mackerel between thejaws its head is to be presented toward thecutting knife, and so that the back of the `mackerel shall be upward andthe belly,V of course, resting on 'the carriage E. This being done, the carriage is to be moved forward quickly, so as not only to force the mackerel against and un derneath the cutting-knife, but to impart to such knife a rapid rotary motion, and also to force the rearmost arm ofthe lever K into contact with the post M and cause said lever` to move so as to move the front end of the l jaw H away from that of the jaw I. During this operation of the machine the mackerel will be split, and by the adhesion of lthe cutting-knife to it, as well as by the rapid rotation of said knife, the fish will be thrown out from between the jaws and discharged from the machine.

Generally speaking, it is not desirable to split the mackerel entirely through in a vertical direction, and for this vreason the lower edge of the cutting-knife should be a short distance from the top of the bed or carriage. In order to regulate or adj ust this distance the supporting'bar g may be applied to the remainder of the frame A by contrivances that will admit of its being raised or lowered as circumstances may require. For this purpose the side portions, n a, of the frame may be provided with slots, as seen at hh, and screws iz may extend through'these slots and into the rail g, the heads of said screws being made to overlap the slots. In practice my machine has been found to operate to great advantage.

1. Combining with the cutting-knife D and the movable carriage E a set of centering and holding jaws, H I, or the mechanical equivalent therefor.

2. The improvement of making the knife move faster than the carriage, or, in other Words, combining with the cutting-knife and the carriage a mechanism for rotating the cutting or splitting part of the knife at a greater velocity than the carriage may be moved, the same being not only to facilitate the splitting of the fish, but to cause thedischarge of it from the carriage in manner as described.

3. Combining with the holdin g-carriage, the

. centering-jaws, and the splittin g-knife a mech anism for operating or opening the centeringjaws to allow of the discharge of the sh by the action of the knife, as specified.

4. Combining with the holdingcarriage7 its centering-jaws, and the knife a mechanism to open the said jaws during the backward movement of the carriage, the same being` to preparc said jaws for the reception of a iish, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my signature this 30th day of August, A. D. 1856.

SIDNEY S. TURNER.

Witnesses:

R. H. EDDY, F. P. HALE, Jr. 

